Disconnect

The first batch of mainstream films about dating, romance, and seeking connection on the Internet – think ‘You’ve Got Mail,’ ‘Must Love Dogs,’ and even ‘Euro Trip’ – didn’t demonize the relatively new technology, they instead mined it as another way to illuminate and examine human relationships. For romantic comedies and more sex-fueled outings, the Internet simply provided a fresh place for its characters to meet cute. Yet, as the Internet has become more normalized in actual society, its portrayal on the big screen has gotten consistently more nefarious – meeting cute no longer seems probable, it doesn’t even really seem possible.